Consider Your Parking

Something I've noticed lately, that I don't think a lot of businesses consider, is parking. Perhaps the owners are too preoccupied with the other aspects of opening their businesses that they fail to consider where exactly their costumers are going to park. There is a big name pharmacy in a town where I frequently shop, and the parking lot is so difficult to get into that I rarely shop there. I only go there when it's absolutely necessary, and when those dreadful moments come, I feel so anxious thinking about having to get into the lot. I don't have a picture of it, but you basically have to pull a u-turn into the lot, all while avoiding cars coming out of the drive-thru lane, and avoiding cars parked in front of the building. There is literally just enough space for one vehicle to u-turn into the parking lot, from a busy highway, and it is beyond terrifying. I know that most owners don't have control of how their parking lots are designed, but I think it's definitely something you should consider when you are looking for spaces to rent or buy for your business. As an anxious driver, I will go without something that I desperately need if it means that I don't have to navigate through an insane parking lot, or cross many lanes of traffic to get to the building.

Changing with the Times

What do you do when society changes, but you can't change your product? How do you change your marketing strategies to fit in with society's new standards? It is possible to change your product to fit in with the new society, but it makes more sense to change your marketing. This can be seen today with breakfast cereal. When I was a child, cereals like Lucky Charms and Froot Loops were advertised to children with mascots. Advertisers made cereal seem fun and exciting, and the mascots certainly grabbed children's attention. Today, however, I have noticed that the advertising for children's cereals isn't really geared toward children anymore, but more toward adults. I have noticed that commercials for the cereal rarely feature mascots, or children, and mainly feature adults eating the cereal and playing video games. I think there might be two reasons for this. One, the generation that grew up loving those cereals are now adults, and are free to buy whatever cereals they want, so the cereal companies are marketing to them, reminding them of their childhood, and letting them know it's okay to eat children's cereal. Two, I think society has such negative feelings about children eating sugary cereals that the companies have been forced to change their demographic. Parents are refusing to buy cereal full of sugar and high fructose corn syrup, so cereal companies are now turning their marketing to adults who have the freedom to buy and eat whatever they want. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's definitely something I've noticed.

Celebrity Endorsements

I have seen celebrities advertise products my entire life. From actresses like Jennifer Aniston, to musicians like Beyonce, and comedians such as Ellen, the list is endless. And let's face it, these days you can't watch TV without seeing a commercial with a Kardashian in it. My main concern when considering celebrity endorsements is the fallout that would come with a celebrity scandal. Of the four that I just mentioned, I can name a "scandal" for each of them, and so could anyone else. Personally, celebrities don't change my opinion on whether or not to purchase an item when I like them, but if it is revealed that a celebrity has done something unforgivable, I refuse to buy anything that they are selling. Whether it's a product that they are just simply promoting, or something that they themselves created, like a movie or an album. One of the biggest examples I could give would be Chris Brown. Six years ago, it was revealed that Brown assaulted his then-girlfriend Rihanna. I don't support anyone who assaults their partner, and I refuse to further his career by watching his movies, or listening to his music. So, with this example in mind, I have to ask, are celebrity endorsements really worth it? I don't think so. Celebrities are human, and humans make mistakes, some bigger than others. But when a celebrity makes a mistake, the entire world hears about it. It's not worth the potential revenue their endorsement would bring in when you consider the cost of a celebrity scandal. When a celebrity does something that the public considers wrong, companies have to scramble to pull out their advertisements, sometimes costing them in the millions with lost advertising and revenue. While the potential revenue is appealing, risking my company's name and reputation by partnering with someone in the public eye is not.

Preventing Theft

Since starting this blog, I realize that I've been more observant of the way people run their businesses. The other day, I stopped at a convenience store that I frequently purchase gas from. I've probably been in this store about a thousand times, but it was until recently that I realized how disorganized this store is. There are a few cash registers at the front, with at least four women behind the counter operating them. Now, this store is one of two gas stations in my town, so it's always busy and somewhat hectic. On this particular day, I realized that all of the women use all of the registers, and that no one has a set register that they are supposed to work from. As I watched the flurry of activity, both in front of and behind the counter, I started to have a bit of anxiety. There was so much going on, it was impossible to be sure that the money was going into the register. There are security cameras, but with so much activity, how can you see what is happening? And how would you know when or where to look? I'm not saying anyone at this store would steal money, but if they wanted to, I think they could get away with it. When it comes to preventing theft, you can never be too careful. I would suggest that this owner make it a policy that each cashier must work from their own register, that way if theft occurs, the culprit would likely be caught.

Keep Your Ideas

There are a lot of things I want to do in my life. I want to open a bakery and a restaurant, publish novels, and write and direct a movie. Whenever I get inspired with an idea for one of these projects, I write it down on a dry erase board in my room. Sometimes, when I'm not in my room, I'll write it down on whatever paper I have at the moment, then take it to the board. It's so important to keep up with your ideas, because you never know what idea will become a success. It would be a shame if you thought of something amazing, but didn't write it down, and then eventually you saw that same idea done by someone else, who is now seeing major success because of it. So, do what I do, and keep your ideas. It's also great to have them where you can always see them, to keep you motivated to expand on your ideas, and create something new.

The Value of Pricing

Pricing is one of the most important aspects of your business. When people think of pricing, they usually think of what they would charge for their product or service. Obviously this is very important and necessary, but something most people don't consider, and something that I've noticed a lot lately, is that people don't display their prices. Customers are more willing to purchase your product if they know what they are being charged. I, for one, hate when something in a grocery store doesn't have a price on it and, instead of asking someone how much it costs, I usually just don't buy the product. Businesses are really costing themselves a lot of revenue by simply not making sure that their products have visible prices. When I have my bakery, I will make sure that my prices are obviously displayed.

Different from the Rest

How do you make your business different from every other business that has the same idea as you? Someday, I want to open a bakery. How am I going to make my bakery more preferable to other bakeries out there? One idea I've been considering is to only have my bakery open during certain days of the week. I know it sounds risky, because people tend to get frustrated with businesses that keep weird hours, but I think the lack of daily access to my baked goods might create more of a demand. I know of two businesses that operate this way, and both have been running for well over a decade. Another business did this in my small town, and was booming, then they decided to open up every day, and eventually had to shut down. Only opening your business on certain days of the week creates a  demand for your product, and also lowers operating costs. If you choose to operate only four days of the week, rather than seven, you won't have to throw away unsold goods every day, and you save on water and electricity. Every business you open comes with a certain amount of risk, but I think operating this way will be worth it.